The Servants of Celebrian: The Marriage of Aearon and Eruwaedhen
by Celebrant
Summary: (With Sardhrantor's express permission, I have adopted this story.) A year has passed since the Lady Celebrían has passed over the Sea, and her two servants who are still in Imladris are given in marriage to one another. I strongly recommend that you read Sardhrantor's "The Servants of Celebrían" before reading this story.


**Disclaimer: Obviously, I do not own _The Lord of the Rings_ or anything else written by J. R. R. Tolkien. If I did, there would be no point in writing fanfiction about it, now would there?**

 **I, Celebrant, have adopted this story from Sardhrantor with express permission from the author. As you can see, the first chapter is Sardhrantor's work, but I will be taking it up from here.**

"My lord Elrond." Aearon bowed.

"Aearon, my son," said Elrond. "Say on."

"Is Eruwaedhen indeed going over the Sea, as did the Lady Celebrían?"

"No, she is not. Her mistress commanded her to stay here at Imladris."

Aearon waited for a few moments before speaking more. "My lord, I would like to ask your permission to marry Eruwaedhen."

Elrond smiled and put his hand on Aearon's shoulder, as a kind father would his son. "You have my permission, Aearon."

"Thank you, my lord." After Elrond lifted his hand, Aearon walked to where he knew Cirdurwen was: in the kitchen. Sure enough, there she was, kneading bread and giving instructions to the kitchen maids, who were busy as ever preparing the evening meal. But Cirdurwen was never too busy to notice a visitor to the kitchen-in this case, Aearon Belegirion.

 _"Mae g'ovannen, Aearon,"_ Cirdurwen greeted with a smile. _"Ci maer?"_

Aearon laughed a bit nervously. _"Im maer, hannod,"_ he said. "I came to ask a request of you."

Cirdurwen turned her gaze to Aearon and the smile on her face grew ever wider. "What request, Aearon?" She cocked her head a little. "Something about my sister?"

"Which sister?" Aearon asked, not because he didn't know, but he wanted to know if she knew.

"You know of whom I speak," Cirdurwen replied cryptically.

 _Just say it, Aearon._ "You are Eruwaedhen's elder sister, and in absence of her parents, you are her guardian, are you not?"

Cirdurwen nodded slowly, knowingly.

Aearon drew a deep breath and sighed it out slowly. "I ask your permission for her to be my wife, Cirdurwen."

Cirdurwen's hands stopped kneading. She looked down at the dough under her fingers, then back at Aearon. "You have my permission, Aearon, and gladly."

Aearon smiled. _"Gin hannon, mellon-nîn."_

"You are welcome." Aearon started in the direction of the maidservants' quarters, but Cirdurwen stopped him. "No, Aearon. She is unavailable."

Oh. "I see. Well, I must be going anyway."

"Farewell, Aearon."

 _"Novaer."_ Aearon departed.

Countless bright stars specked the night sky. Dawn would come within the hour, Eruwaedhen could tell by the position of the constellations, and before then she must attend to her new mistress's needs. Arwen was quite a different lady from her mother, but Eruwaedhen had adapted well enough over the past two years.

Eruwaedhen seated herself on a bench before a beautiful fountain and gazed at the stars' reflections in the bubbling water. There she stayed motionless for some time, reflecting on her own life and the lives of her peers.

Aearon, for instance. He seemed to be more quiet lately. He didn't get into as many deep conversations with Eruwaedhen as he once did. Eruwaedhen guessed that the Lady Celebrían's passing over the Sea was partly to blame for that, but she felt that something else was on his mind as well. The other day she had heard him talking to the Lord Elrond about something, but of just what he was saying, Eruwaedhen had decided not to eavesdrop.

Just then, Eruwaedhen heard someone approaching from behind her. The footfalls were Aearon's.

"Eruwaedhen," said Aearon, and sat beside her, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Good morning."

"Good morning, Aearon," Eruwaedhen replied. "If you could call such a dark sky as this, _morning."_

"But dawn will come in an hour, and this is only the dark before the day arises." Aearon was silent for a few moments, as the other waited patiently for him to continue. Aearon turned to Eruwaedhen, and she to him.

 _"Nin bestathog?"_ he asked quietly.

Eruwaedhen was not entirely surprised, for she had anticipated this as a possibility for a long time. _"Gin melin_ _,"_ she answered. _"_ _Gweston gin bestathon."_

 _"Gin hannon,"_ Aearon said. Eruwaedhen watched calmly as he brought out a ring. It was not extravagant, and had no device on it, but it was a ring all the same-a ring of betrothal. She stretched out her hand, and he slid the band onto her finger. Then together they two rose to tell Cirdurwen and the Lord Elrond of their engagement. At the noon meal Elrond announced the betrothal of Aearon and Eruwaedhen to all the inhabitants of Imladris, and of all the merry hearts there was only one who may have had a bit of sorrow in it, and that was Uidor: for though she was happy for her two friends, in her heart she grieved still for Gondithen, to whom she had been betrothed before he died in battle.

 **A/N: Just had to say it all in Sindarin, didn't I? :) I wrote this seperately from 'The Servants of Celebrían' because I didn't think it would fit well in the main plot, which concerns Celebrían's passing over the Sea and the effect it has on Aearon and Eruwaedhen. Some of you might be wondering why I am still tacking the name 'The Servants of Celebrían' on the title of this story, when Celebrían is now in Aman. Well, that's because Aearon and Eruwaedhen say they serve Celebrían in spirit when they are serving her husband or her daughter.**

 **And I never did tell you about Gondithen and Uidor before, did I? Well, now you know.**

 **Also, Celebrant didn't help me much with this one...at least, other than begging me to PLEEZE write it. So I did. I hope you like it as much as Celebrant and I did. I'm not good at writing romance, so that's why I didn't put much (if any) in here. Please follow or favorite as you see fit, and don't forget to leave a review! :)**

 **Sindarin translations:**

 _ **Mae g'ovannen, Aearon**_ **= Well met, Aearon**

 _ **Ci maer?**_ **= Are you well?**

 _ **Im maer, hannod**_ **= I am well, thanks**

 _ **Gin hannon, mellon-nîn**_ **= Thank you, my friend**

 _ **Novaer**_ **= Farewell**

 _ **Nin bestathog?**_ **= Will you marry** **me?**

 _ **Gin melin**_ **= I love you**

 _ **Gweston gin bestathon =**_ **I promise I will marry you**

 _ **Gin hannon**_ **= Thank you**


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